Hope Abloom

I think Marcella Hawley is upping her artistic game.  Truly!  She has always brought us such beautiful and whimsical creations for card making, but WOW, it seems she’s taking it to a whole other level lately.  Today’s amazing illustration is brand new from Power Poppy, a stunning digital image called Heart Abloom, part of her Color Stories series this year.  Just look at the beauty!  

Here’s how Marcy described all the details:  A tapestry of spring flowers fill a large, lush heart shape in this Color Story adventure! The flowers for this heart were expressly chosen to celebrate yellows, greens, blues, and purples. We have Daffodils and Narcissus, a myriad of single and double Hellebores, Trout Lilies, and then the surprise guest: Blueberries! 

It was an outright joy to colour this one up in a very spring-like palette.  I happen to really love hellebore - or lenten roses, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before.  They are so delicate, but also so varied in the colours they come in.  I used a pretty cohesive palette focussing on deep pinks and purples, with the pop of yellow in the narcissus. I’ve mentioned before this combo really works because the yellow and purple are complementary colours.  

I decided to trim the whole heart out with a wee border and place it on a intricate oval die which I covered in glitter.  It helps create the feeling of a victorian Valentine.  To soften the yellow cardstock, I added a layer of embossed vellum behind the heart.   Check out those gorgeous blueberries nestled in there...and then that sweet little snail!  

The image comes with the center banner blank, and with the word hello in it.  I chose the blank one and then added the word hope in bounce lettering, which I’m practising more of.  I wouldn’t say my lettering is super successful because of the curve of the banner - that was a bit harder to letter in a way that made the proportions look right, but I still love the word hope embedded into all these spring flowers.  It gives in an Eastery feel.   

I used a crazy amount of Copics, 34 I believe, so I took two photos of them.  

For more beautiful inspiration today, be sure to visit the rest of the Bloom Brigade playing along, and for more of Heart Abloom, check out the Instant Gardeners Team from Power Poppy, they’ve done some beautiful work with the images from this set!  

Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Stacy Morgan
and Marcy at the Power Poppy Blog